Stewart Hosie MP

Stewart Hosie MP (Scottish National Party) MP for Dundee East. Stewart is the Deputy Leader and Chief Whip of the SNP Westminster Group. Worked in IT / IS for 20 years before becoming an MP.

Identity cards

Backs biometric passports as a sensible security measure but says plans for ID cards should now be scrapped.[1]

Complained about the cost of ID Cards 23 November 2006

Let us remember that the estimate of£5.4 billion is merely for the Home Office to issue the ID cards and passports. ...

I urge the Government to think again about ID cards, but if they intend to introduce them, they should also provide some robust information, because right now, and in debates in the past year or so, none has been available.

House of Commons debate Identity Cards Bill 29 March 2006

...When the scale of the opposition to carrying an ID card or to being included on a central biometric database rises to the scale of the opposition we saw to the poll tax, I fear that the entire edifice will collapse. Our resistance to the central database will continue.

Pointed out that the ID card system was in practice not voluntary and that the ID card scheme is not required in order for the Government to meet their international obligations. Identity Cards Bill 13 March 2006

House of Commons debate Stated that the ID card system would not reduce fraud significantly 13 February 2006

Signed Early Day Motion 263 Identity Cards 06 June 2005

That this House believes that a convincing case for the introduction of compulsory biometric identity cards and a national database has not been made, that the risks involved far outweigh any discernible benefit, that the introduction of identity cards will fundamentally change the relationship between the citizen and the state, diminish personal privacy and threaten civil liberties, that the present proposals do not provide properly costed, proportionate or effective solutions to the problems they are claimed to solve; and calls upon the Government to shelve plans for their introduction.

Copyright

House of Commons debate Point of Order Sound Recordings (Copyright Term Extension) 5 December 2007

Pete Wishart, supported by Mr. Ian Cawsey MP, Mr. Mark Field MP, Sandra Gidley MP, John Robertson MP, Rosemary McKenna MP, Adam Price MP, Mr. Greg Knight MP, John Hemming MP, Stewart Hosie MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP and Janet Anderson MP, presented a Bill to extend beyond 50 years the copyright term of sound recordings; and for connected purposes: And the same was read the First time; and ordered to be read a Second time on Friday 7 March, and to be printed [Bill 33].

Open Source Software

Signed Early Day Motion 179 Software in Schools 21 November 2006

That this House congratulates the Open University and other schools, colleges and universities for utilising free and open source software to deliver cost-effective educational benefit not just for their own institutions but also the wider community; and expresses concern that Becta and the Department for Education and Skills, through the use of outdated purchasing frameworks, are effectively denying schools the option of benefiting from both free and open source software and the value and experience small and medium ICT companies could bring to the schools market.

Links

Stewart Hosie MP TheyWorkForYou.com
Stewart Hosie MP SNP profile

News

2006-12-19 - SNP Press Release - ID Card Shambles Proves Home Office is "Not Fit for Purpose: Author: Stewart Hosie MP; Summary: SNP Shadow Home Affairs Minister, Stewart Hosie MP, has today (Tuesday) reacted to the news the Government has abandoned plans for a giant new computer system to run the national identity card scheme. Mr Hosie said:"This embarrassing u-turn confirms what the opponents of ID cards have said from the start." "The Central National Identity Register was fraught with danger. It means the Government have wasted tens of millions of pounds on the work carried out so far." "Having failed to make the case for any of the stated justifications for ID cards, they have now added confusion to the mix by proposing new legislation next year. Indeed, the Home Office is not fit for purpose." "This was an ill conceived system from the beginning. While we back biometric passports as a sensible security measure, plans for ID cards should now be scrapped."